Dog Tags
by addicted2airwolf
Summary: Story 4. Along with the reappearance of an old "friend" Hawke gets a possible new lead on St. John's whereabouts. What is he willing to risk in exchange his brother's return though?
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

**Hawke's Cabin**

**3:31 PM**

Stopping abruptly mid-song, Hawke cocked his head skyward and listened. That was no chopper, and he wasn't expecting company. He set aside the bow and cello pushing away the chair, and walked quickly to the window and peered outside.

A Steerman flew in low over the lake straight for the cabin, its single pilot tossing out a small object as he did so and pulling up last minute to skim just over the cabin's roof and disappear beyond the mountains a minute later.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he stepped outside to see what the mysterious package was. Locating it and picking it up, he found it to be merely a rock with a short note attached to it, the message scrawled across in a bold, awkward style. He unwadded the wrinkled paper and spread it out on the top of the bar as he came back inside.

_Please join me for lunch tomorrow at the Ronnie's Diner, my treat. Not an order, but rather an offer. I have some information that may interest you, but I'll warn you now it isn't cheap. Hope to see you then._

_Signed, _

_An old Friend_

An old friend, huh? He wondered who that could be, no one he could think of that would set up a meeting like this. And what information could they possibly have that he would be willing to pay good money for? That one wasn't such a hard question, he knew, and he hadn't made his hunt any secret, but who? The only way it looked like he was going to find out was to show up at Ronnie's tomorrow though; so the question would have to remain unanswered until then.

Climbing up out of the lake where he had been swimming, Le ran up to the cabin and came inside, grabbing a towel String had left out for him on the porch railing along the way.

"What was with the plane?" he asked inquisitively of his uncle as he toweled off and dried up the puddle he was leaving in the floor only after receiving a warning look.

"A meeting," he supplied vaguely, "supposedly from a friend."

"Who? What about?" Le continued to bombard him with question after question despite the lack of answers.

"I'm guessing about my brother." It was no longer any secret he didn't believe his brother, presumably Le's father was dead and that the casket he had buried up on the hill contained his brother's body, but rather had all been part of a clever scheme to smuggle drugs into the countrym an inevitable conversation after one of his more recent missions. It was, however, still somewhat of an awkward topic though.

"Do they know where he is?"

"I don't know. I'm supposed to meet them tomorrow for lunch."

"I see."

"Would you mind terribly staying with Cait while I go take care of that?"

"I guess not," Le answered distantly.

That was a lie if he ever heard one.

"What is it, Half- Pint?"

"It's nothing."

"I may still have a lot to learn, but I do know you well enough to know that everything is not alright."

"I was hoping we could do something together, just you and me , but it's no big deal."

"It is a big deal. I haven't been much of a friend lately. I haven't even been much of a guardian. You send about as much time with Cait and Dom as you do me, and we should do something. You have anything specific in mind?"

"Not really, maybe go fishing one afternoon or something, nothing that can't wait."

It's not right for me to always be putting you on the back burner wither. I have a better idea, how about you come to this lunch thing with me and then we'll see if Dom can't spare us a couple days while we go exploring. There is this place I know that's perfect for fishing…"

"Okay," he agreed. "And it's just you and me, right?"

"Yeah, just you and me," he said, ruffling the boy's hair, " nobody but us. There is one condition though."

"What?"

"You dry up the puddle you're dripping all over the place before going back out there, and don't disappear until I join you."

\A/

"Can't even get decent help these days," Dominic complained even as a strange mixture of curiosity, amusement, and worry all in one came across his face. "For a guy who enjoys flying so much, and f lying being his job, enjoys his work, he sure does come up with a lot of reasons why he can't come to work."

"String playing hooky again?" Caitlin teased as she walked through.

"Yeah _again_. Does he even do anything to earn the paycheck I'm giving him anymore?"

"You could always fire him if he's that bad," Caitlin said. Fat chance, she knew. If you weren't robbing him blind, it was near impossible to get Dominic Santini annoyed enough to fire anyone. And firing Stringfellow Hawke was about as likely as growing ten feet overnight.

"Now that's an idea. Only problem is, then I'd be a pilot down and so far behind in maintenance I'd never catch up. Wait, that's basically what it's like now, meaning I'd be no better off."

"Guess we can't fire him then. What's his excuse this time?"

"He's meeting someone for lunch tomorrow the plans on taking Le camping for a couple days, assuming that actually happens."

"Why wouldn't it?"

"I know he means well, but with Le out of school for the summer, I think he's got more time with the kid than he knows what to do with; the other thing is, he thinks the person he's meeting tomorrow might have some information on Saint John's whereabouts and we all know how things go when he goes off on _that_ tangent."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

**Ronnie's Diner**

**Los Angeles, California**

**12:15 PM**

Dressed in a casual outfit of jeans and a short sleeved purple cotton shirt, Hawke walked into the diner, followed by his nephew, and scanned the room for any familiar faces. Seeing none, he took a booth by the door where he would easily be spotted and ordered himself a drink while waiting on his unknown visitor.

Ten minutes came and went, and still no one had showed. Le was well on his way to having scarfed down an entire hamburger and an order of fries and he was beginning to get irritated when his day suddenly plummeted from bad to terrible.

Looking as good as ever, the gorgeous deadly Lexa Cole entered the diner, immediately saw him, and took a seat across from Hawke.

"Sorry I'm late, you know how LA traffic is. Ridiculous. I think every person in the city must go to lunch at the exact same time. It took me an hour and forty five minutes to get here from Fresno."

In that case it was amazing she wasn't sitting in a jail cell at this very moment, he thought; that trip should have taken at least three and a half hours, and if traffic was bad even longer. But then again, Lexa was no normal person, and her driving he had no doubt was as fast paced, crazy, and hazardous as the rest of her life.

"So anyway, I've been here and there, FIRM work you know, kind of picked up a side job with the CIA transporting things, and I've heard up plenty of rumors along the way. I thought there might actually be something to this one though." Out of a perfectly matching bag just large enough to fit a 9mm and a makeup bag, which was probably about what she had in there, she pulled out a short chain with a sort of rounded rectangular engraved piece of metal attached to it.

Dog tags.

Saint John's dog tags.

"I though you might want this."

"Where--"

"Before you start asking a bunch of question, I don't know much. I don't even know for sure he's alive; to be perfectly honest, the chances of that are pretty slim. You know how the whole dog tag thing works, and like you see, I only have the one. He might've been hurt or sick, or maybe it just got snagged on something. Anything could've happened. The person I got this from said that more information would cost though. As for who he is, I really couldn't say; he didn't show me any credentials, a mercenary I believe for whoever is willing to pay."

"How much?"

"A couple grand. He said he would contact me in a week to see if I was still interested and that if I was I'd better have the money with me."

Hawke eyed her suspiciously for several long minutes. She was on his side, for now, and he didn't think she'd just take the money and run, but he could necessarily say the same thing for her informant, and he wasn't sure he was ready to trust her completely either. But if the information was true and he might actually get a better clue to his brother's fate, then it would be worth it no matter what the price, _if_ he got it. He couldn't abandon Saint John either though; he was family, the only real family he had, and there was no way in hell he could simply give up on finding him.

"Fine," he said, reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out the roll of money. "I want anything he's got."

Lexa took the money and stowed it in her purse, dropping her own twenty on the table. "Keep the change. Sorry I can't stay longer, but I've got to be in Richmond by tomorrow and I don't think I'd pass Airport security so I'll have to drive." She offered him a sympathetic kind of half smile and pulled on her motorcycle helmet. "Don't worry, I won't forget about your brother. See you next week? Same time, same place."

\A/

The Jet Ranger rested hidden in a cluster of trees as Hawke finished unloading the back of the helicopter. "... And you've got the fishing poles. I think that's everything. What do you think?"

"I think I'm ready. Which way do we start going?"

He shrugged. "Whichever you want, we're exploring. You lead the way and I'll worry about find the way back."

"Anywhere?"

"Anywhere. If I remember correctly there's a stream back that ways somewhere," he said pointing, "we could go fishing there if you want. Or, if you're okay with just the food we've packed, there are more hills and mountains to climb the other way. There's plenty to do and see either way you choose, whatever you want."

"Can we really climb the mountains? Sounds fun, let's go that way."

"Lead on."

Le set off down a barely visible overgrown path that looked like it hadn't been used in years, leading the way through the thick scrub, getting more and more excited every rock they passed.

"I think we're almost there," Le called out from his latest perch at the top of a rock about four feet up.

"We've still got a while to go before we reach any real climbing. If you'll relinquish the lead for a little while though, I can show you the perfect place to stop for dinner and camp out for the night."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

"My brother and I used to come out here all the time as kids, drove our parents crazy. They'd want us for something and we'd be nowhere in sight. They never did find us either."

"Sounds fun," Le laughed.

"It was. I doubt they ever knew we came out this far though, much further from the cabin than we were supposed to be I'm sure too, but we got curious and wanted to know what else was out here. As we got older we could go farther faster and they didn't think much of us playing out here."

"You've lived out here your whole life then?"

"Not my whole life. It used to be my grandfather's, but Sinj and I liked to come out whenever we could. When he died, he left the cabin to my brother and I. Our parents used to bring us out occasionally, but I think they preferred the city. After they… after they drown, we went to live with a family friend, Dom. We shared a room in his apartment for a while, but by the time Saint John was twenty he went off to war. I joined him as soon as I could and spent most of my three tours stationed in Vietnam. When I came back without him…" his voiced trailed off, giving way to a moment of eerie silence that settled between them before he continued. "I couldn't stand going back to the room we had shared, and I didn't have any real money of my own so I went to the only other place I could and preferred to remember the happier times."

Or at least try to, at times that was pretty difficult to do. But he wasn't ready to give up hope yet, and from Lexa or not, there was a new clue, renewed hope.

"What about you?"

"I don't remember a lot," he admitted, knowing nothing he had to say would help him establish his brother's identity nor completely confirm that he was his brother's son. I was born in near Saigon before it fell, don't remember my father, and whenever I tried to ask my mother she just cried, she cried about a lot of things. I came to America with my Aunt Minh and Darren, and lived with them until I can to live with you."

Not exactly an easy childhood either. And now he had to wonder, was adopting the boy such a great idea? It was a big responsibility, and neither his job for Santini Air and especially not the FIRM was exactly low risk. He had the means to support the kid, and he definitely wanted to, but finding someone to watch him without asking questions and often without much warning while he was off shooting up things on the other side of the world wasn't always very feasible though. He didn't want it to come down to that, but if it did, would he choose to keep looking for his brother or take care of his nephew? It was no easy choice, and he could only pray that it never came down to that because honestly he wasn't sure which he'd choose.

Turning his thoughts to the quickly darkening world around him, he decided they had better get a move on or they would be pitching their tent in the dark.

\A/

"No luck, Dom, he's not there."

"Let's just hope those camping plans went through after all."

"What if they didn't?'

"Then he's probably about to do something really stupid. The Lady hasn't been out in a while and needs a thorough check over before going out again. Any machine does, especially her being a one of a kind. String is a one of a kind too, only he doesn't have any armor plating, and there's no way he did a good inspection and rearmed her alone before leaving."

"He wouldn't do something that stupid though. Would he?"

"I'd like to think I taught him better survival skills than that, but I know how he gets when someone mentions Saint John, all logic and reason goes right out the window."

"So what can we do to help him? There's got to be something."

"If he's already gone then he's on his own."

"What if he didn't? You said he was planning on taking Le camping, maybe that is where he went. It would explain him not answering the radio at the cabin."

"Maybe."

"Do you know where he was taking him?"

"Somewhere not too far from he cabin, but I don't know exactly where. I'm not even sure he really knew; it sounded kind of like they were going to take it how it came because he didn't know exactly where they were going of when they'd be back, not super long, but a couple days excursion."

"We could take a chopper up first thing in the morning and see if we can spot them from the air," Caitlin suggested.

"I doubt it would work. He did hint about stopping by one of the places he and his brother used to play as kids, but none of us ever did find out where it was; we could look for hours with no sign of them, then both boys would show up right as rain just in time for dinner."

"So we're just stuck here wondering until he shows up again?"

"I'm afraid so."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

**A Week Later**

**12:15 PM**

**Ronnie's Diner**

Weaving through traffic at thirty over the speed limit, Lexa swung around a dark colored SUV that was only doing five over and slipped between two other cars as she skidded into the parking lot and screeched to a halt about six inches in front of the glass front door.

Swinging off the motorcycle, she pulled off her helmet, causing long golden blond locks to come tumbling across her back and effectively gaining the attention of every person in the area, she strode purposefully into the dining room, a large manila envelope in hand.

Sitting down at the table in the chair across from Hawke, the sudden, shocked silence gradually changed into a steady murmuring.

"Nothing like subtlety."

"It wasn't necessary in this case," Lexa retorted, sending him an arrogant smile, "besides, I like making a memorable entrance."

"It will be memorable alright, memorable enough for me to wonder how you ever got in the spy game and even more how you've stayed alive this long."

"I've got the skills they need, the rest isn't important. Now, are you ready to see what your money bought you?"

"I've been ready."

She held up the envelope which he snatched up greedily and immediately tore open to start sifting through the contents, stopping only at a dark picture of too many soldiers cramped into a tiny cage. At least two of them appeared to already be dead or at least well on the way, and the others all looked quite a bit worse for wear.

"Your brother is believed to be being held by Tran van Long the son of his warlord father and believes this is a just punishment for the tragic accidental napalm bombing of his village. He says that he isn't going to make any trades and anyone sent to bargain or attempt a rescue will immediately be shot on site, no questions asked," Lexa explained. "He is very well armed, and to make matters worse, rumor has it he is planning to move the surviving prisoners some time in the next week, but no one knows exactly when or where."

"So I have to get over there, the faster the better."

"You going isn't good enough; you're going to need backup. I know you're the unstoppable Stringfellow Hawke paired with your indestructible monster copter, but this guy isn't going to go down easily and you're going to need more than an improvised plan you make up as you go along. And that whole flying by the seat of your pants thing is fine if you can handle it, but there are some things you need to know first."

"I'm listening."

"In appearance maybe, your mind is already off in la la land imagining the perfect reunion between two brothers that were separated who knows how long ago."

"It'll be eighteen years this July fourth."

"Exactly my point. Get the reunion out of your head until you have him out of Vietnam in one piece, then ya'll can talk and hug and all that until your heart is content.

"Now, you're going to need an engineer, someone who knows the controls well and can load a Hellfire or Bullpup at a moment's notice. Secondly, since I'm assuming you'll insist on piloting, you need a co-pilot who can handle things if you're injured, gone, or in any other way hindered from doing your job. Personally, I'd take at least another person or two who are good on the ground but can also fly if necessary, the more people who can serve double duty the better. You need to warn anyone you hire or con into coming with you about all the inherent risks too because there will be plenty of them and no guarantees you'll come back in one piece, if at all."

He had resumed flipping through the papers, hoping for a better shot of his brother, when Lexa laid her hand over the papers, impeding his view.

"Think about it, String," she told him earnestly. "Really think about it and don't jump in head first before you realize what you're getting yourself into."

He stopped short for a sobering moment. Lexa didn't call him String. Hawke yes, a teasing Stringfellow, yes, but String no, not since way back in Germany. She was deadly serious. She knew him well enough to know he had a tendency to let the emotions take control especially when his brother was involved, and from her tone…. It sounded almost like she actually cared. Since when did that happen?

"I **don't know** he is there, but I **do know** this guy in dangerous and there is a very good possibility you and part of the team you take in with you won't make it back. Is that a chance you are willing to take for a brother who might or might not be alive?"

"I'd do anything to get him back."

"What about the others?"

"I'll warn them of the risks," he promised, "I'm going though whether or not anyone else comes with me."

"I do know of one person you could take with you. She already knows about Airwolf and her capabilities so she's not an additional security risk, good on the ground, can fly if necessary, lots of covert experience, pretty cheap pay too."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I need you to drop me off in Germany on the way back though."

"You? You don't even like me, I don't like you, and you don't even believe Saint John is alive. Why would come with me?"

"It'd be a new challenge, and I need to find a way to Germany without flying commercial."

"The FIRM doesn't even take care of dropping off their agents anymore?"

"The FIRM yes, but they would probably rather I didn't go, not too fond of trigger happy agents in the middle of their peace conferences I guess, the CIA, on the other hand, needs me to pickup a special aircraft and the flight options didn't quite work out. So what do you say? Ride to Germany for an extra team member?"

"What if you don't make it out? Who will go to Germany then?"

Lexa shrugged, "they'll figure out something. Is it a deal?"

"Fine, I'll take you, but no funny stuff, got it?"

"Crystal clear, there is one more little favor I need to ask of you though….."


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

**Santini Air Hangar**

**9:45 AM**

Business was almost nonexistent, limited at the moments to the occasional phone call, but that didn't mean there still wasn't plenty to do. Caitlin had stayed busy for busy for the last three hours doing everything from putting on the coffee to repairs on one of the Jet Rangers while Dominic rigged the other for an upcoming stunt and Hawke worked on the Steerman. Stubborn bolts and well worn tools weren't the only thing on Hawke's mind though, and this was probably the best chance he was going to get in the near future.

"Hey, Dom, Cait, could I talk to you a minute? I have a favor to ask."

"Well sure, as long as it isn't to tell me you have any other lunch date with this mystery woman and can't fly the scene for the movie in the morning." In all actuality, he was just glad the kid hadn't decided to do something stupid in his constant hunt for his brother regarding some new leads he was supposedly picking up for whatever the reason was. They obviously hadn't worked out, and for the time being it might be better that way.

"It does kind of involve 'that mystery woman' as you put it," he admitted, "Lexa actually."

"Lexa as in Lexa Cole? I thought you didn't like her much," Caitlin put in, "sure made it look that way to me from how things were going last time I saw her if we're talking about the same person."

"I don't, but she needs a ride and I, unfortunately, need her help. She says she might know where Saint John is being held, some American POWs at the very least."

"And you want to go after them," Dom supplied. He should have seen it coming sooner or later.

"That's the plan, leaving tomorrow afternoon actually."

"And you though we might want to tag along, get shot at a bit, that kind of thing?"

"I thought I'd tell you before I just up and disappeared and to ask you to watch Le for me."

"And leave you alone to fend for yourself?" Caitlin asked in an astonished tone. "I think not."

"I was just giving you a hard time kid; of course we'll come along. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather get shot at with," he added, chuckling.

Hawke kept the serious tone despite Dom's teasing however. "This is serious. She said that Tran van Long, the one holding the prisoners isn't anything to laugh about and has plenty of fire power. It's anything but low risk and I don't want to put either of you in that kind of position."

"String, life is for living, and I've lived a pretty good one, but that didn't happen be finding a safe place and hunkering down until it's all over. I'm not going to try to get myself killed, would rather that didn't happen quite yet, if the Man Upstairs sees it fit to keep me livin', but flying with you and the Lady keeps me young, and there isn't anything I wouldn't give to keep you and your brother safe."

\A/

It was dark with little visible difference between the near black heavens and the seas below, but Caitlin remained keeping a careful eye on the monitor in front of her in case they suddenly got company, not very likely over the middle of the Pacific, but better safe than sorry. In the seat front of her, String flew in such silence she occasionally had to question whether of not he was still awake of not. He was lost in deep thought, and despite the risks and uncertainties, more determined than ever that he would find Saint John. They better, she thought, otherwise she wasn't so sure he would willingly leave until having personally scoured every inch of the whole region himself.

Dom had the co-pilot's seat and Lexa the jump seat, both trying to gather as much rest as possible until the shift change in another couple hours. It wasn't the most ideal, but time was critical. Besides, there weren't many places around here for setting up any kind of camp anyway, she thought half-humouredly to herself as she continued taking in the miles of dark water until it met the equally dark sky above through the screen in front of her. _She_ was bone tired as it was, and she had the easy job just sitting here to make sure no one started shooting at them. As it was, she didn't think String had slept much since the dog tags had been dropped outside the cabin. Running on determination and adrenaline only worked so long though, and it was going to take a lot more than that if Tran van Long was anything like Lexa had said.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

It felt like they had been in the air days instead of hours by the time they had traveled that many miles and crossed through so many time zones, but they were finally here, wherever here was. She was hardly out of the helicopter and String already had his sleeping bag out, not that he appeared to be planning on using it, and was going over the plans for attack first thing in the morning.

"Need any help?" Caitlin asked, cheer a little forced into her voice. At the moment a long, warm bath and at least twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep sounded pretty good; instead she was going to get to sleep in shifts in an unwelcoming jungle half way around the would from home with no running water at all other than a murky stream that was more mud than water.

He had better be glad we love him so much, because I sure wouldn't do this for just anyone!

"I just about have it," he finally answered after a long pause. "That is, unless you have the highly sought after secret to staying cool out here or keeping the mosquitoes away."

Ah, so he was here at least somewhat in mind and not just in body.

"I'm afraid I can't be of much help in that area," she admitted. "What about unpacking or getting ready for tomorrow though?"

"I don't have much that needs to be unpacked since we're leaving before dawn, just thought I'd review the plans and make sure we have everything."

"And if we don't, do you want me to walk down the road a ways and buy whatever you need from the friendly neighborhood munitions dealer?"

"If only it were that easy. I'd just prefer to make any changes to the plan tonight rather than have a problem tomorrow."

"Makes sense. Alright then, I'll see if I can help Dom or Lexa then," she said, turning to leave, "Oh, and String…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't forget to get some sleep; you look like you could use it."

Sleep, they all needed it especially tonight,he thought, him probably the most at the moment, yet he was the least likely to get any. How could he when he was so close? When by tomorrow afternoon, he might be able to actually hug Saint John and talk to him, something he had only been able to dream of for the last seventeen years? Sleep? Yeah, he would try to, but it was already a lost battle, he knew, no matter how tired he was.

"I'm worried about him," Dom's voice broke through Lexa's evaluation of the younger man.

"At the moment it'd be a lot more profitable to worry about yourself. He is probably better prepared for whatever dangers we will meet out here than any of us."

"But he hasn't slept to amount to much in days, and if he doesn't find Saint John…. Every time he seems to get more distant for a while. Eventually he climbs out of his self-imposed solitude and rejoins the land of the living, but I'm afraid that just once he won't."

"I know about some of the things he's grabbed at, no matter how slight the possibility and how disappointed he was when he didn't find his brother, but does he really believe Saint John is out there somewhere just waiting to be picked up? I mean come on, it's not going to happen, surely he knows that as well as you or I do."

"I just know I'm not sure even I can put him back together again if gets like he was. Say, weren't you the one that gave him all this information? Why bother if you don't even believe Saint John is alive yourself?"

"I did give him the information, along with plenty of warnings; I needed a ride and he was about the only was I was going to get one. He doesn't like me though, and there was no way he was going to take me anywhere without feeling he owed it to me."

"You mean you're just using him so that you can get a ride wherever you want. Don't you ever stop to think about anyone else but yourself? About the pain you're causing him?" Dominic demanded, anger beginning to rise in his voice.

"He'll get over it. It's real information, he was the one who swears he saw his brother in the picture, not me. And it's not like I'm getting out of this as easily as you make it sound like I am either. I volunteered my help in return for a ride, that it all."

"But you don't know how he was…"

"I know he was an emotional wreck but refused to show it, determined it was his fault he got picked up and Saint John didn't, and he would do anything to get him out. What more is there to know?"

"That was later, much later," Dominic countered. "Before he worked for the FIRM, right after the war he spent about a day curled up on his brother's bunk crying; then he went up to the cabin and locked himself out of the rest of the world. He didn't routinely do anything other than hide out alone at the cabin for weeks at a time for nearly a year. To this day I still don't know what he did up there; he had a few healing injuries to recover from but nothing that serious, I do have a hunch he might have followed a couple leads that somehow managed to find him, but other than that… I went up there as often as I could, sometimes bringing groceries, others just to visit, but there were a couple time he had locked the door and risking getting shot as I busted through the window would have been the only to get in. Thankfully he finally snapped out of it and started coming up to the hangar on a more regular basis, but even now there are still times…"

"Sorry if I cause more trouble than I'm worth, that really wasn't the intention. I just figured I had something he wanted and he had something I did, we could make a clean deal and hopefully only have to see each other a minimal amount of times. I knew he was sensitive about this kind of thing but never to that extent. Even for him that seems a bit over the top though. Like it or not, his brother has been missing in action seventeen years and the likelihood of him ever coming back is beyond slim."


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

String was already up and packed by the time the others woke, busying himself with doing a thorough pre-flight check on Airwolf inside and out. Dom rolled over sleepily and sat up, yawning as he did so.

"Time to go already? Feels like I just got to sleep."

"It was time to go a while ago," Caitlin commented, "at least from the looks of it."

The two of them now sat alone in the eerily silent campsite wondering where the rest of the group had gone.

"They wouldn't…. would they?" Caitlin asked hesitantly.

"I don't think so," Dom answered, "at least I hope not." From what he heard this was going to be a particularly difficult mission, and he didn't think Hawke and Lexa would try to go in on their own, but it sure looked like that was what they had done.

He startled when suddenly the rotors of the predator-like helicopter began to rotate. "Hey, Dom, you about ready to go yet?" String asked, sliding out from the opposite side.

Dom drew in a relieved breath and nodded, "yeah, just about."

\A/

The day's forecasted high had to be about a hundred and ten Dom decided, suddenly yearning to go back to California; even in mid-day it wasn't this bad. It was far from cold there, but here it was definitely far past anything even approaching comfortable. Oh well, he thought, it'll be over soon enough and with any luck maybe they could actually get Saint John out. If he was here, he mentally added doubtfully; he was certainly open to any pleasant surprises though. What was he supposed to do anyway? It wasn't like he could let String go off on this crazy mission on his own, not to mention the guilt he would have if something happened to the kid. A couple days and it would all be over, for better or for worse, and they would go on with their lives, at least until Michael gave them something else that absolutely couldn't wait or another lead on Saint John turned up.

"Dom," String repeated, finally succeeding in drawing him out of his thoughts, "scans."

"What? Oh, yeah," the older man answered punching up a new screen on the monitor in front of him. "Got it. The camp is directly ahead, two buildings with about five people each, probably the prisoners, two armed guards at the front and back, watch towers at each corner along the perimeter and a couple more."

"What are they carrying?" Hawke interrupted as he took a look at the layout fro himself as he flew over, taking small arms fire along the way.

"Nothing that'll hurt the Lady, but it'd sure put a hole in me real quick - AK-47's mostly, other than that they got everything hidden pretty well or they're planning on throwing rocks at us; I'm not picking up anymore weapons."

"At least that should make things easier."

"Don't underestimate him," Lexa warned, "I've heard too many times how others have."

"I wasn't planning on it, but that means he is probably storing them underground somewhere. Which also means it'll take him longer to get out the big guns and buy us an extra minute or two. Cait, you ready to drop us off?"

"Drop you off? No, I already told you I thought going in without any backup was a bad idea."

"I'll be backing him," Lexa chimed in."

"No offense, but considering how well you two get along it might be better if he did go in alone."

"We can behave long enough to pull this off. Set us down here then you can provide all the help you want from the air."

Reluctantly, Caitlin obeyed. They had already been over the plan countless times, fixing as many holes in it as they could along the way. Now they had to put it to the test and hope it passed, for all their lives' sakes.

"Be careful," she pleaded as they climbed out, each adding a couple extra magazines before taking their weapons and setting off.

"It'll be fine, Cait," Hawke said with a reassuring kiss to the cheek. "Lexa and I will try to keep the backstabbing to a minimum, just make sure you come in with the net ready and plenty of firepower." With that said, he closed the hatch and jogged off to catch up with the already disappearing Lexa.

"Sure," Caitlin replied, voice little more than a whisper as she answered, "no problem." Somehow she had a feeling that was far from the truth though.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

"Over there," Lexa said, indicating to a building to their left. "Take that one and I'll get the other. Going around the back is probably best if you don't want to get your head blown off your shoulders, and don't get yourself caught."

"I can handle it," he interrupted irritably, "I've done this kind of thing before."

"Fine, see you at the rendezvous," Lexa returned, not waiting for a response from him and heading for the prison.

Hawke took the second, cautiously approaching the back entrance and taking down the first guard before anyone ever knew he was there. He wasn't quite so fortunate with the second one though.

There was a shout and multitude of other men came to join, forcing him into firing at him and giving away his presence, as if they didn't already have a pretty good idea. He kicked in the old wooden door and quickly scanned the room for a certain familiar face.

No Saint John though. He was probably just in the other building, he thought hopefully, at the same time bitterly aware of Lexa's warning. _I __**don't know **__that he is there._

Nevertheless, he continued to interview the captives as he smashed the lock barring their freedom. "Saint John Hawke? Anyone seen him?"

A couple seemed to think about it for a moment, but no one offered any input.

"First Air Cav, MIA since '69," he added, opening the barred door and directing them out of the building.

"Think he got moved to the other building," one finally spoke up, "while back though, supposed move again soon."

"Right." In other words, he had missed him again. At least that meant he was still alive though, or at least he had been "a while back" whenever that was. Time didn't seem to pass very quickly in places like this though; maybe a while ago wasn't so long after all, maybe even as close as the next building over. All hope and expectation was likely to bring him was disappointment and hurt, but it _was _possible, that after all these years they could be reunited once again.

His dreaming was suddenly startled into a devastating reality as he ducked for safety from the barrage of gunfire penetrating the wall all around him.

"Straight through the trees until you reach the truck," he shouted as instruction, covering them as well as he could with only a single M-16 against an ever-increasing number or people and gradually increasing caliber weaponry. Dom was definitely going to have to come in guns ablazing, or all they would have left would be pieces, very little pieces.

Reloading a clip of ammo, he returned fire, desperately looking for a way of escape and only being able to hope the prisoners made it back unscathed without his help.

And what about Lexa? It wasn't like he had enough problems of his own or anything, he thought sarcastically, but if they knew he was here, they might know she was. The other building wasn't _that _far, under normal circumstances at least, but when twenty people with guns are after you not that far can seem like an eternity away. He wasn't seeing a whole lot of options though and it was now or never.

Quickly going through a large portion of the precious ammunition he had with him, he managed to clear the immediate area and make a mad dash for the building on the other side of a well worn walkway. Slamming through the door shoulder first, he could have sworn he saw a glimpse of long golden hair disappear around the corner only a second before the multitude tailing him caught up, shouting and looking like they were about to give him a fireworks show he would never forget, assuming he lived long enough to remember it.

Then, out of nowhere he heard the unmistakable cry of the Lady as Dom brought her in low fast with all the promised firepower. Most of the group abandoned their hunt for the newest visitor, leaving him with only about five to deal with from the moment, a much appreciated reprieve.

Two falls, more close misses than he wanted to count, and a couple scuffles later, he finally had evaded the entourage intent on killing and eventually found his way back to the previous night's campsite more tired than he had ever been since his tours in Vietnam.

Neither Dom, Cait, nor the Lady were anywhere in sight, but would probably return shortly, and currently as long as he didn't have anyone shooting at him he was satisfied. Well, _almost _satisfied, he still had to deal with _her._

"Things didn't go well I take it," Lexa idly commented, making no move to help him.

"I take it you're right."

"Your friends and monster helicopter went to take the POWs to safety where they can be flown out of this hellhole."

"All of them made the rendezvous okay?"

"Yeah, not a whole lot of help from you though. Thankfully, I managed to send our new friends the opposite way though. You, you my friend are going to have to learn you can't always play decoy and win. One of these days they're going to catch up with you."

"I think they did. Just loved all the backup you provided too."

"Unlike you, I'm not trying to get myself killed."

"Who said I was trying to? If we had gone in together like we were supposed to none of this probably every would have happened."

"Maybe not, maybe it would have, doesn't much matter now."

"It never does, does it?"

Lexa shrugged, uncaring about the look she was being pinned with. "It hasn't before. Why should this time be any different? You know you would find some reason to be unhappy with this arrangement anyway. Last time we saw each other we kind of reached a ceasefire, but I never really earned your forgiveness, probably never will. I understand that and there is no point pretending everything is good between us. It is what it is and that is going to have to be good enough."


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

"How long are you two going to keep this up?" Dominic asked in exasperation.

Neither said a word.

"And I thought you had a bad attitude going to pick her up in Russia, and that was nothing compared to this. You're being ridiculous."

The younger man made no rebuttal, neither accepting nor denying his surrogate father's accusation.

"You outta be ashamed of yourselves, both of you are grown adults and still bickering like little children."

By the time he and Caitlin had returned there had actually been very few words exchanged between Hawke and Lexa, although both had used plenty strong ones to make up for the lack of quantity. Not they were at a standstill, mutely refusing to even look at each other much less spare words, and had been for nearly an hour.

"I think you're wasting your breath, Dom," Caitlin advised.

"Yeah, I know it too," he sighed. "I just don't understand why they can't tolerate each other for a couple days and at least act civil instead of trying to rip each other's throats out. Especially you, kid; I thought I raised you better than that, and if I didn't, I know your parents did."

That at least earned him an acknowledgement, even if it was in the form of a meaningful look.

"It's true, I know it is. You can't honestly tell me that if your parents were here to see this you could act like this so shamelessly, now could you?"

"That was a cheap shot, Dom."

It was and he knew it, but when it came down to it, he couldn't go on allowing them to act like this and he knew that if Allen were still here he would much rather have his name mentioned than see his son acting like this.

"She- "I don't want to hear what she did. I'm sure she could say plenty about how it's all your fault too, but I didn't come here to play referee. Why don't you worry about packing up so we can escort that plane out of enemy territory and get the heck out of dodge?"

"Fine," Hawke answered tightly, still refusing to spare even a glance in Lexa's direction. "It's getting dark fast and we need to get ready to head out anyway."

"Head out is right," Lexa broke in, "just got a distress call from your friends who were supposed to be shipping the POWs back."

'What is it?"

"They got hit only a few minutes ago, nearly all the prisoners have been recaptured and taken back to the camp we just rescued them from."

"You mean the one we nearly obliterated. What's left to take them back to?" he wondered aloud even as he took his place inside Airwolf."

"I don't know, but we obviously left something."

"A mistake we won't make a second time."

\A/

"So where are they all?"

"Beats me. You got the scans running, Dom?"

"Yeah," the engineer answered, "but it isn't doing us much good. They aren't anywhere for at least a couple miles."

"Can you widen the search area?" Lexa queried.

"Well sure, but-"

"Go ahead."

"It widens the search, but it's not as specific, so we have a greater chance of missing them," Dominic cautioned.

"Might as well, they don't appear to be around here anywhere anyways."

Punching a few buttons in front of him, he widened the search grid, still running all scanners. "I just don't understand how they could clear out that many people so fast."

"Why didn't I think of it before?" Hawke scolded himself. It made perfect sense, the only thing that did. "Chopper. They must have air lifted the prisoners out."

"So aircraft in the area," Santini reported.

"They didn't have to go far though, just get them some somewhere we can't find them."

"There is another camp not far from here," Lexa suggested, "supposedly abandoned long ago, but it might serve their needs temporarily."

"It's worth a try," Dom agreed.

"Take a heading due east toward the coast, about fifty miles from the city."

\A/

"I'm coming with you this time," Caitlin insisted. "Dom can handle flying and, considering what almost happened last time, I think you could use a little extra backup."

"Fine," Hawke agreed, realizing Cait was firmly decided and there wouldn't be any changing her mind. "Lexa will come around the front, this time it's a full frontal assault, you and I come around the back and lead the prisoners through the woods a safe distance away until her can arrange a pickup."

"I don't-" she started to object, but was quickly stopped.

"Or you could stay with the Lady and Dom, much safer there and we could manage."

"I'll go with you two." It wasn't exactly what she wanted, but there wasn't time to argue, and definitely no point in it.

Dominic dropped off the trio just outside the camp and then came in low and fast, guns ablazing the whole way. Lexa, followed by Hawk and Caitlin, headed straight for the rough cage the POWs were now being held in, only stopping to take down an occasional guard. With a couple well-aimed shots, they took out the padlock and gained access inside.

"Keep them going," Hawke directed as he turned to fire back at a sudden spurt of gunfire coming from behind them. "I'll cover you, just go."

Although a bit reluctant, Caitlin obeyed, taking charge of the group and safely guiding them out of the camp and into cover of the trees.

"Down!" Lexa breathed, tackling him to the ground a moment before a well aimed bullet would have cut his life short, getting grazed herself for the trouble.

"You alright?" He still didn't like her per say, but she had saved his life, and not even the grudge he held could allow him to totally discount that.

Lexa ignored the question, doing her best to ignore the pain rather than fall prey to it. "Caitlin should have the POWs out of range by now, all we have to do is clear out," her shout barely audible over the bullets whizzing overhead followed by a deep rumble as a large canon imploded close by.

"Easier said than done."

"Much easier," Lexa agreed breathlessly after risking a glance at the approaching onslaught.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

This was a bad idea Dominic realized, a really bad idea. So far there had been no sign of Saint John and now he could have very possibly lost the other young man that he knew and loved as a son.

Somewhere along the way he had lost radio contact with String and Lexa, Cait's being only shaky at best. Even with Airwolf's sensitive scanners he wasn't getting them, at least not so far as he could tell. There were more constantly moving people than he could count, and where they were suddenly getting all this ammunition to shoot at him he couldn't tell.

He had to be down there somewhere. String was a smart boy, he'd figure a way out to safety. He would," and he would continue telling himself that until it happened. In the meantime, was there anything he could take out without taking out the rest of the team, wherever they were?

Taking another look, he determined he still couldn't figure out exactly where they were, but he could go ahead and eliminate the few places he knew that weren't. He loaded a Maverick and a second later reduced an outpost into smoldering remains.

Before he could load another he heard a familiar voice over the radio. "Dom," it repeated in a barely recognizable voice.

"I'm here," he answered, knowing that as much as he wanted to, now was no time to ask lots of questions.

"Cait… prisoners safe… can't find… know where they are?" was all he could make out.

"Where are you now?" he asked even as he began triangulating her position.

"Not…" was all she got a chance to say before he lost the connection. Not enough to get a position and he obviously wasn't getting any further with that conversation. It was beginning to look like he was alone fighting a loosing war.

\A/

It was mid-day and the sun was scorching, but that was the least of their problems. It was only a graze, Lexa kept telling him, but he suspected it was a lot more than she was letting onto. She needed some serious antiseptic and bandaging at the very least.

"Gotta get out of here somehow," Lexa murmured, "somehow…" She risked another glance over the edge of the ditch they found themselves holed up in, nearly losing her head in the process. "They know right where we are and are only getting closer. We've got to move now."

"Only if you're suicidal. There aren't any openings - we'd never make it through."

"Then we make an opening. On the count of five we run for it and don't look back."

"I'm not going to-"

"It's not an option," Lexa cut him off. "You can stop running when you safely reach Airwolf, until then you don't quit is they brought out a full air strike over a minefield you're trying to tiptoe through."

"You're not exactly making me feel better about this either."

"That wasn't my goal. I don't want any heroic - you're a big boy and I can take care of myself so they shouldn't be necessary anyway."

"You're-"

"Five, four, three…" Lexa counted off, throwing a M67 grenade. "Run!"

There was a clearing where Dom could hopefully spot them and pick them up not much farther than the other end of the camp if he could get there, the catch being getting there. He could feel the heat of the explosion as the ground shook from Lexa's grenade; it was much closer than he would have asked for, but it was a diversion all the same and the only one he was likely to get so he might as well make the most of it. He could hear Lexa's footsteps pound along behind his, but somehow managed to resist the urge to turn around and make sure she was really there. Instead, he cast a brief glance skyward, hoping to catch a glimpse of Airwolf hovering above the tree tops, but to no avail.

Realizing there was no way he could outrun the rebel army at his heels, he ducked into the trees and disappeared amongst the dense vegetation. They, undoubtedly, knew this area better than he, but if he was lucky maybe he could lose them and find some place to hopefully be able to radio a pickup.

\A/

Breathlessly, Caitlin pulled herself into the seat beside Dominic and began to relate all she knew. "The POWs are safe for now. String and Lexa went off in the other direction, but things weren't looking good; practically the whole town is after them and they don't have much ammo left.

"Any idea where they were headed?" he asked hopefully.

"Not much," she admitted, "somewhere on the other side of the camp, I think trying to distract them while I got the prisoners out. After that I don't know, they just disappeared…"

"Whoa, slow down. You all were getting the POWs out and what? Long's mean came after you? I'm assuming String and Lexa got separated at some point during the firefight?"

"Pretty much."

"So I should start looking on the other end of the camp then. Now, why don't you hop into the back and give me a hand."

"You got it."

\A/

He had started to scramble up from the ground where he had ended up courtesy of a jutting tree branch, but stooped mid-movement. He appeared to have lost them. The noise of the men tramping through the jungle seemed to be deadening, the constant backing of orders fading and all becoming oddly quiet. It was over; all he had to do was make it back to Airwolf.

Carefully crawling as noiselessly as possible across the ground, Hawke made his way toward the outer edge of the jungle toward the river.

What seemed an eternity later, he finally reached it, leaning against a rough tree and pulling out the handheld radio only to find it had been destroyed. Now what? He sat quietly for several long minutes trying to figure out how to get Dom's attention without alerting the entire Vietnamese army of his position until he thought he heard the distant whine of rotors overhead. Great, just what he needed, unless…. Unless, yes, it was!

Airwolf's distinguished howl filled the air as she shrieked by, leaving a strafing line of fire behind.

"Ok, Dom, you better be scanning audio because my life may very well depend on it."


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

So much for losing them, he thought dejectedly as the bullets whizzed by overhead. They were back with a vengeance, and he had no way to escape. Scrambling backward, he was missed by another round by mere inches. Vainly he checked the magazine in his own gun, wishing he could magically make more ammo appear, but to no avail. All he could do was try to run from the inevitable.

"Come one out," an officer at the front of the brigade demanded. "There's no use trying to hide; you're surrounded."

As is he didn't already know that. Dom wasn't around or wasn't scanning audio obviously and that made his chances of surviving this encounter pretty much nil.

\A/

"I'm not seeing anything from up here. What about you, Cait?"

"Nothing yet. Hey, wait a minute, I think I got something." She punched up another screen and scanned the monitors in front of her with practiced ease. "It's the audio scanner," she said, still looking for a visible sighting as she replayed recently recorded clip. "That's definitely him, and it sounds like he's in trouble."

"Can you get me a location?"

"Working on it now." A moment later she grinned in satisfaction. "Got it. There's a group of people a mile away and he's right in the middle of it."

Without hesitation, Dominic sent them forward, flying over the gather, leaving an enormous cloud of dust behind.

"Cait, load me a small canon and get ready to let String and Lexa in."

"Loaded and ready."

Dom fired the canon and immediately flew in close, giving Hawke all the time he needed to climb in beside him. Lexa was nowhere to be seen though.

"Where's Lexa?" Caitlin asked as they pulled out and away from the persistent wave of shooting the remaining soldier continued to fire at them.

"I'm not sure exactly," Hawke answered, a little embarrassed that he had not only gotten himself into a serious predicament but also lost his partner. He may not particularly like her, but she had saved his life; he couldn't abandon her now without even knowing what happened. "She was right behind me until I ducked into the jungle. After that I don't know what happened- I was surrounded and if you'd been about two seconds later you would be scraping me off the ground in little pieces."

"Well believe me, I'm glad we aren't doing that, and I'm hoping the same is true of Lexa, but we've got to find her first."

\A/

"Uh-oh," Cait murmured to himself. "Uh, String did Lexa by any chance dye her hair and I just didn't notice?"

"No, still long and blond, why?"

"Do you know of any one else who would be here and not exactly fit in with the locals? Say, maybe another blond haired woman?"

"No. This camp was abandoned, only taken over by Long's guys since we leveled theirs, why?"

"Well…"

"What is it Cait?" he demanded impatiently. "Did you find her or not?"

"I think I did, but I don't think we'll be taking her home with us or even to Germany for that matter."

"Is she…"

"Yeah, and by the time we could land I don't think there would be anything left to take back."

He knew what that meant - burning her. It was a fate he had almost had to face years ago because he hadn't been willing to sit quietly in his cage and do as they told or be used as bate for more American soldiers. Luckily he'd made it out. It was his biggest fear for Saint John, something that he wished he could end, but in all actuality there was no way he could. They disposed of the unwanted ones in an easy manner for them and a terrifying and agonizing way for the ones who were to be gotten rid of. It was over and there wasn't a thing in the world he could to change it now and he would have to live the rest of his life knowing that, knowing that because he couldn't get there just a little sooner someone else was dead, another person was dead because of him.

\A/

**Two Days Later**

**Airwolf's cockpit**

An awkward silence filled the cockpit on the way back to the states. Plenty had happened, but none of it was pleasant enough to talk about. Dominic was at the controls with Hawke as co-pilot despite his persistent insistence he was fine, they all knew he was no closer to being fine than the rest of them. In another three hours or so they would all be home again, but each of them knew it wouldn't be quite the same. They had made contact with Michael and let him handle the travel arrangements for the rescued POWs and finally gotten all the details set for safe transport and care, but Saint John hadn't been with them. Worst of all, Lexa had been right - about everything. Saint John was nowhere within the camp, and despite their precautions they had still underestimated Tran van Long. He personally had seen to leveling the entire camp, but that didn't change the fact Lexa was dead he felt he had let them all down. Now they had to go back to California and pretend everything was alright when it was anything but.

"You know I could keep Le for a while once we get home," Dominic offered, "I'd been thinking' of asking if he wanted to visit for a while now."

"Or he could stay with me," Caitlin added. "I've still got a bunch of his stuff at my place anyway."

"I know what you're trying to do, and I appreciate it, I really do, but it's fine. Some semblance of normality will do us all some good."

There was more than that though, whether they knew it or not. It wasn't so much just that Lexa was gone, after all he still couldn't say he like her, as it was everything else. Lexa had died in vain for something she didn't believe in, Saint John hadn't been in the rescued bunch either, and no matter how glad he was to get the others out or tried to look at the good that had come out of it, the overshadowing fact he had lost someone who was once a friend, had a close call himself, and risked everything that he valued most remained there. He didn't _want _to quit looking and hoping that his brother was still out there because he _might _still be, but nobody _wanted _to abandon his brother either. He had to think about the rest of them too - Dom, Cait, Le - they were all family too, blood related or not. They meant a lot to him, and while he and Sinj had had a couple fights over the years Saint John had always been trying to do what he thought was best for him even if he didn't immediately realize it, and he had no doubt Saint John wouldn't want him to lose it all for his sake. With all that had just happened, what he had lost and come so close to losing, it made him wonder just how much was he willing to put on the line to get Saint John back?


End file.
